WASHINGTON, D.C. — Claims alleging injury caused by the Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler device will not be litigated in a formally consolidated docket after the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled April 5 that the cases are already being informally, and successfully, coordinated in South Carolina and elsewhere.

The panel denied a motion by plaintiffs to create an MDL docket for approximately 15 lawsuits pending in five districts that point to alleged defects in the Sorin 3T that leave the device susceptible to bacterial colonization. The bacterial contamination poses a significant risk of injury to patients who rely on the device ...